Dear Theists, Why Are We Here?

As an atheist, I get asked about the First Cause constantly despite the fact that any theist could just Google it and learn that the First Cause Argument was refuted hundreds of years ago. Not only that, but it has been refuted in multiple different ways. Still, religious believers will question atheists on this and insert their poor interpretation of what an atheist’s answer might be.

Why are we here? Obviously something can’t come from nothing, so therefore atheists must believe that all this is an accident, right? WRONG!

For starters, we don’t actually know that something can’t come from nothing. In fact, we don’t even know what nothing is nothing. Lawrence Krauss has a book about this and it is really worth a theist’s time to check it out. If “nothing” else, you might learn something about why we know what we think we know and how science actually works. Check out A Universe From Nothing.

Second, there is no shame in admitting ignorance. While we know that the Big Bang happened, we don’t know much else. We can say that because space and time are linked, it makes no sense to really talk about a before the universe. Stephen Hawking once described it by asking what is south of the South Pole. Since the South Pole is the most southern location on the planet, one can’t go any further south. The same might be the case with space/time.

But let’s turn this question around on the believer. If God created the universe and God is eternal, what was God doing before he created the universe? And if God is perfect and necessity is the mother of invention, why did God create the universe? Wouldn’t God have been perfectly content to just exist in… a nonexistent universe? Where did God live before there was a universe to live in? Oh, Heaven – right. When did God create that place? Why did he create Heaven? Where did God live before he created Heaven? Did Heaven exist before God? If so, then who created Heaven? If not, then where did God live before he created Heaven? Wasn’t he perfectly content there? Again, if necessity is the mother of all invention and God doesn’t need anything because he is perfect, then why is there anything at all? Why are we here?

Just something for religious believers to think about… have a lovely and rational day.

4 Comments

That is the sticking point: god is a perfect being according to all monotheists. Perfection has no need, no desire, no intention, does have no emotions (how can a perfect being love? emotions just are for imperfect beings to help negotiate through an imperfect world), perfection just is – perfect. No law of thermo dynamics, no entropy.
God according to the theists could not have created anything. Creation is out of desire to remedy an imperfect situation, to fulfill a need.
God is simply illogical all around – especially when considering how a being that is timeless and dimensionless can create anything whose intricately interwoven properties are time and space.
Did god suddenly become aware of time?
What happens to a timeless god who suddenly becomes aware of time, of entropy? He who had no future and past…what happens? He who had no space or time (can a time and space less being conceive of such? can a borne blind person conceive colours?) what happens?

Excellent post! I often hear that god was “lonely” so he wanted to create people who could choose to love (and worship) him. I don’t see how a perfect being could be lonely, but even if I grant that, why didn’t he just create other godlike beings who could relate to him better? It’s like a lonely old woman who gets a bunch of cats (and burns the cats the misbehave).